Beloved Houston pastor shot dead by roommate during home invasion

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, February 23, 2026

Detectives with the Houston Police Department are investigating after Amor y Restauración (Love and Restoration) church lead pastor, Pedro Cantu, was fatally shot by his roommate during a break-in at his home on Saturday.

Police responded to a burglary call at 1233 South Kirkwood Road about 12:15 a.m. on Saturday when they heard at least one gunshot coming from inside the residence, according to a news release.

Officers later found and detained a 35-year-old male with a firearm. They also found 62-year-old Cantu suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Another man, identified as suspected burglar Rodney Dushaw Yoder, 44, was also injured by Pastor Cantu’s roommate, who was not identified by police. Yoder was charged with burglary of a habitation. It is unclear if the 35-year-old who fired the weapon will face criminal charges. 

“Detectives learned that the armed male, 35, and Mr. Cantu were residents of the home. And the injured male had broken into the residence. The armed male was attempting to defend the residence, shooting the suspect and accidentally striking Mr. Cantu,” HPD investigators said in their release.

According to the church’s website, Pastor Cantu and his wife, Leticia, who have three daughters, moved to the U.S. from Mexico in July 1990. He started meeting other families for worship and Bible study at their small apartment in 1991, and later that year, they formally opened Love and Restoration church.

During a worship service at the church on Sunday, church and family members openly grieved his death, KHOU 11 reported.

“My husband loved you all deeply,” his wife shared in Spanish. “He loved the church deeply. I never heard him speak ill of anyone. He loved you all sincerely.”

One of his daughters, Perla Cantu, also made it clear that her father did not own a gun.

“I want people to know that my father was a peaceful man,” she said in a statement. “He did not own a firearm, regardless of what you may have heard.”

Others like Abraham Guajardo, pastor of Eden Church in Houston, remembered Pastor Cantu as a force in the local Spanish church community.

“Pastor Pedro Cantu was more than a pastor; he was a father, a son, a friend, not to mention a pastor to pastors. Every time he greeted me, he would say, ‘mi querido Abraham.’ ‘My dear Abraham,’ He said it to many, but when he said it, it felt personal. It carried weight,” Guajardo wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

“Right before we launched Eden, he walked me through the facility they were preparing to move into. It was empty at the time, just walls and vision, but he saw what God was building before anyone else could see it. Much of what we have stepped into at Eden has been shaped by his teaching, his conversations, and his example. He carried authority in this city with humility and conviction. I truly do not know another one like him,” he added.

Guajardo said Houston, the Body of Christ, and the Latino church are all grieving Cantu’s death.

“While this loss is shocking and painful, we also celebrate the victories, the ground he broke, the lives changed because he said yes to God. I am praying deeply for his family and for his church community Amor y Restauración. If I feel this loss, I can only imagine what they are carrying right now,” he said. “In the very city we love and serve, this hurts deeply. But his voice, his vision, and his faithfulness will echo far beyond this moment.”